


ten step guide

by laurenjauregui



Series: you make me sick (for being so perfect) drafts [5]
Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: F/F, autistic!lauren, yet another ymms draft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 01:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10150559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenjauregui/pseuds/laurenjauregui
Summary: Lauren Jauregui adores Camila Cabello. While she never usually does anything about her crushes, because nothing about them is structured, she really, really likes Camila. So, she decides to make her crush structured and creates a ten step guide to get the girl.





	

Lauren has had a crush on Camila Cabello for a while. Crushes aren’t something Lauren likes, because crushes aren’t factual and have too many variables and she doesn’t like the unknown. Crushes are the unknown.

But she’s had this crush for a while, and she thinks she’d like to do something about it, but she doesn’t know _how_ to do that. So, after a lot of google searches, she comes up with a plan.

Her ten step program to make Camila like her.

  1. Initiate contact



Step one is easy, Lauren thinks. Step one is just to get on Camila’s radar, which she doesn’t think is too hard. They share a few classes, which gives Lauren plenty of opportunities to complete step one.

She doesn’t dare talk to Camila during lunch, because she’s always sat with her cheerleading friends, Dinah and Normani, and they intimidate her. Lauren doesn’t like cheerleaders, other than Camila, because cheerleaders are mean to her, but she knows that Camila won’t be, because Camila is beautiful inside and out.

She waits until their shared history class, and sits down in the spot next to Camila’s usual seat. While it upsets her to do this, because her seat is _her_ seat and she loves routine and structure, she wants her plan to work out.

Camila sends her a look when she walks in and takes her seat, but Lauren doesn’t pay much attention to it, because she wouldn’t be able to decipher it anyways.

She checks her phone’s clock, noting that it’s two minutes until the class starts, and decides that it’s a good time to introduce herself.

“Hello,” She looks up, her gaze trained on the collar of Camila’s shirt, “I am Lauren Michelle Jauregui.”

“Uh… hi,” Camila replies. “I’m Camila Cabello.”

“Oh, I know,” Lauren is quick to reply, “Your name is there on your folder, see? But you don’t know me, so I thought I would introduce myself, because my name isn’t on my folder.”

“Oh,” Camila slowly responds, “okay then.”

Lauren turns back to the front of the classroom and smiles to herself. She’s happy, because she’s accomplished her first step; she’s on Camila’s radar now and has initiated contact.

    2. Get her phone number

Lauren realises that this step is rather ambitious, but she’d noticed that a lot of the online guides she’d read focused heavily upon texting. So, she decides to make a Facebook page and add Camila on it, because that has a messenger app, so if she fails in getting a phone number, she can speak to her on Facebook.

Lauren spends most of her lunch break creating a Facebook page, making sure her interests are up to date and that her profile is well filled out for when she has Camila as a friend. She adds a few of her family members, and then searches up Camila’s page and tapping the add button.

She busies herself with a little homework, and then checks her phone when she’s finished, grinning from ear to ear when she realises that Camila has accepted her friend request. She takes that as a really good sign.

She actually approaches Camila in their shared art class. “Hello.”

Camila looks up from her sketchbook. “Hi. Lauren, right?”

“Yes, I am glad you remembered my name.” Lauren smiles at her, keeping her gaze trained on the paper in front of Camila. She frowns at the drawing on it. “You’re not a very good artist.”

Camila frowns at her. “Did you just come over here to insult my work?”

“No,” Lauren shakes her head, “it was just an observation. You’re a lot better in history, I noticed that you got an A on the test.”

“Okay…” Camila flicks to a different page in her sketchbook. “What did you want, then?”

“Oh, yes, I forgot,” Lauren rocks on her heels, “I’d like to have your phone number. Please.”

Camila frowns at her. “Why would I give you my phone number?”

“Because I asked for it,” Lauren replies, “I would like to talk to you, and everything I read online said I should get your phone number, because apparently talking to people relies heavily on texting.”

Camila scoffs. “I’m not giving you my phone number.”

“Oh,” Lauren deflates, “why not?”

Camila rolls her eyes. “Because _one_ , I don’t know you, _two_ , you insulted my work, and _three_ , you’re fucking weird.”

“I- oh,” Lauren tries to ignore how hurt she feels, but she knows she’s starting to cry. “I- I’m sorry. I won’t- I won’t bother you again if that’s- if that’s what you want.”

“Of course it’s what I want,” Camila scoffs. “Why do you think I’m not giving you my number? Are you dumb or something?

At the word Camila used, _dumb_ , Lauren bursts into tears and runs back to her desk, because she’s not that. She’s smart, she has a 5.0 GPA, and she’s _not_ stupid.

She decides that Camila isn’t beautiful on the inside after all.

-

She doesn’t talk to Camila again. She stays true to her word, and keeps away from her, ducking into empty classrooms when she sees the other girl coming in her direction.

She’s upset that her plan failed, and she really doesn’t know what she did wrong.

She’s especially upset that Camila called her _weird_ , because she’s not that. Lots of people call her it, but her mom always promises her that she’s _not_ weird, she’s just a little different, and that’s okay. She just didn’t think Camila would be one of the people to call her that.

She’d moved back to her original seats in all of her and Camila’s shared classes, but when she walks into English literature and sees Camila in the spot next to her usual one, she doesn’t know what to do. She starts to panic, because she’d promised Camila she’d leave her alone, but she _can’t_ move seats again, because that’s always been her seat and she doesn’t like changes in routine unless she plans them and everything is starting to get jumbled up and her head hurts and she feels like she can’t breathe.

She wants to run but she can’t make herself move other than to curl up in a tight ball in the slowly emptying hallway. People’s conversations are all getting tangled up in one big mess and she can’t think straight, because she feels like she’s drowning in some sort of weird sensory pool that doesn’t have a bottom or a surface.

Blindly, she reaches into her backpack and gets her Nala out, cuddling her to her chest and trying to calm down, but she doesn’t know what she’s going to do, because she can’t change seats again but she _promised_ she’d leave Camila alone.

She’s surprised when she hears a voice close to her, and she doesn’t know what to do. “Try to breathe, alright?”

Lauren whines, because she _can’t_ do that, it’s too hard and her head is fuzzy and everything is _wrong_.

The voice comes again. “Why are you upset?”

“ _Can’t_ -” Lauren gets out, “ _can’t_ s-sit in- in _my_ spot.”

Again, the soft voice continues. “Why not?”

“B-Because I-I _promised_ ,” Lauren tries her best to explain, “ _promised_ her I’d- I’d l-leave her- her alone.”

“Hey, no, sweetie,” the voice replies, “it’s your seat, right? You can sit in it no matter what.”

Lauren whines. “ _Can’t_.”

“You _can_ ,” the voice reaffirms, “I’m going to take your hand, okay?”

Lauren whimpers, and she feels a warm, soft hand take hers and start tracing patterns on her palm. “Focus on the patterns, okay? Follow them in your head.”

Lauren does as the voice says, tracing the patterns out in her mind and enjoying the formulaic approach. She even starts thinking of her own patterns and traces them against Nala’s fur, thankful that she brought her stuffed lion today.

Once she’s completely calmed down, she opens her eyes and wipes away the tears she knows are there. Then, she looks to her right and nearly jumps out of her skin, because Camila Cabello is sat next to her, calmly tracing patterns on Lauren’s palm.

Lauren shakes her head and backs away, wrenching her hand out of Camila’s grip, because she’d _promised_ she wouldn’t bother her again and she needs to leave.

“No, wait,” Camila stops her, and Lauren frowns, “please talk to me.”

“I- I,” Lauren stutters, not sure if it’s some sort of trick. “I promised. That I’d leave you alone.”

“I don’t want you to leave me alone,” Camila quickly replies. “I _swear_. I was just… really upset the other day, and I’m sorry I took that out on you. I sat in the seat next to yours today because I wanted to talk to you. I didn’t think it’d cause… this.”

“Oh,” Lauren taps out a pattern on her leg. “Do you- do you think I’m weird?”

“No,” Camila answers instantly. “I don’t.”

Lauren nods, and stands up, because she really needs to get to class now and her meltdown had ruined her schedule. “Okay then.”

With that, she walks into the classroom and takes her usual seat, Camila following closely behind and letting out an apology to the teacher.

Once they’re set off on their work, Camila speaks to her, and Lauren frowns, because she’s never sat with anyone and chatted with them during class.

“I really am sorry for snapping at you, you know,” Camila says, “I shouldn’t have done that. You were just… trying to be friends.”

Lauren shakes her head. “I was not trying to be friends.”

“Oh,” Camila’s face falls. “Well, um… sorry for bothering you, then.”

“I was trying to get your phone number.” Lauren clarifies. “So I could text you. Because that’s what it said to do on the internet.”

Camila frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I needed to know the appropriate ways in which you approach people.” Lauren explains, not sure what Camila doesn’t get. “I needed to know how I’m supposed to establish any kind of relations.”

“Okay then,” Camila says, “but… if you wanted to be friends, why didn’t you just say so?”

“I wasn’t trying to be friends,” Lauren repeats, “I was researching how to approach a crush, because I don’t know how to do that, and then I made a plan with some steps for me to follow, and getting your phone number was step two. Step one was initiating contact, which I managed successfully.”

Camila stares at her for a moment. “You have a crush on me?”

“Yes, but this was not part of my plan,” Lauren huffs, “Telling you my feelings was step seven, but I didn’t complete step two, and my plan didn’t work.”

Camila laughs. “That’s so cute!”

Lauren frowns, because she doesn’t know what’s funny. “What?”

“That you made a little plan and stuff,” Camila explains, “it’s adorable. You’re so cute.”

Lauren feels her cheeks turn red, and her stomach flips. “I’m cute?”

“What else was in your plan?” Camila asks. “I’m really curious. Or am I not allowed to know?”

“My plan didn’t work.” Lauren says, opening up her notebook to the page where her plan was written out in neat bullet points. “You can read it if you’d like.”

Camila looks over the plan, and Lauren busies herself with her work. After a few moments, Camila nudges her, and Lauren tenses up, because she doesn’t like being touched without warning. “I think we should do step nine.”

Lauren blinks in confusion. “But- but that’s… that’s a date.”

“Yeah,” Camila says, “what do you say? Want to do step nine with me?”

“I would love to-” Lauren cuts herself off with a frown. “Wait. Is this a prank?”

Camila’s face falls. “What?”

“Is this a prank?” Lauren asks again. “Are you going to say mean things again after? Because if it’s a prank, then-”

“No, no, it’s not a prank,” Camila shakes her head, “I promise it’s not. I really would like to go on a date with you, Lauren. I think it’d be a lot of fun.”

“You do?” Lauren frowns. “I- I… okay. You can- we can go on a date.”

“Good,” Camila smiles, “how’s Friday for you?”

“Um… I am free,” Lauren rubs her hand along her thigh, not sure how to react. “I- I don’t understand why- why you’re asking. You told me- you told me I’m _fucking weird_ and to leave you alone but now you want to go out with me and I don’t- I feel like it’s a joke.”

“It’s not a joke, Lauren,” Camila looks at her with watery eyes, “I _promise_. I don’t think you’re weird at all. You’re so cute and I’d love to spend time with you.”

“Okay,” Lauren nods and tries not to think about any possible negative outcomes. “I- I want to organise it. I’d- I’d like to- to take you out and sur-surprise you.”

“Alright, I’ll let you organise the whole thing. And- um, I’ll give you my number so I can text you my address,” Camila says, “I’m guessing you’re picking me up.”

“I- I can’t drive,” Lauren admits, her cheeks flushing, “I never- never learned. But I can- I can ask my mom to-”

“Lauren,” Camila interrupts, “I’ll drive.”

“Okay,” Lauren bobs her head in reply, “okay, yes- um, you can drive. I’ll let you know… where I live and stuff.”

Camila smiles. “Okay. Just let me know where we’re going.”

“I don’t-” Lauren frowns, “why are you being so nice to me?”

“Are… are people not usually nice?” Camila asks, but doesn’t give her a chance to reply. “I know I might’ve… shaken your trust a little by snapping the other day, but I really didn’t mean it. I think you’re a sweetheart and I’d like to go on a date with you, okay?”

“I’m not weird,” Lauren murmurs, “my mom promised me that. She told me that- that I’m not weird, just a little different, and it’s okay.”

“Hey,” Camila tries to meet her gaze, but Lauren doesn’t like it. “I like you. I think you’re cute. So we’re going on a date. And I don’t know what you’re talking about, being different or whatever, but like, I like girls too, so…”

“I’m not talking about liking girls,” Lauren mumbles, “I- I’m autistic. And-”

“Wait, what?” Camila blinks in surprise, “Wait… you really weren’t trying to insult me the other day. When you made fun of my drawing, you weren’t-”

“I didn’t make fun of your drawing.” Lauren looks up and frowns. “I- I’m really sorry if it came off like that.”

“Oh my god,” Camila says, “I’m such an idiot. I really didn’t mean it when I said you were weird, Lauren. Promise.”

“Okay then,” Lauren rubs a hand along her thigh. “That’s- it’s okay. And I’m not mad at you.”

“I still feel like a jerk,” Camila says, and Lauren notes her hand on the table. So, Lauren covers it with her own and hopes it’s comforting. “You’re really cute and I was so mean to you.”

“It’s okay,” Lauren repeats for what feels like the sixtieth time. “I know that you’re beautiful on the inside as well as the outside, so you didn’t mean it. If you were ugly on the inside, I would have thought you meant it one hundred percent. But you’re not, I know you’re nice and that you were probably just having a bad day.”

Camila smiles at her. “You’re really profound.”

“Oh,” Lauren hums, “I’ve never been called that before.”

“I’m glad to be the first, then,” Camila moves her hand and threads their fingers together, and Lauren stares down, not sure if she likes the sensation. “Have you ever dated anyone before, Lauren?”

“Um, no,” Lauren shakes her head, “I have- I’ve had crushes, but I never did anything about them.”

“Why not?” Camila asks. “You’re the sweetest. I’m sure everyone would’ve been all over you.”

“I- I didn’t know… how to approach them,” Lauren murmurs, “that’s why- why I made my plan to talk to you, because- because I looked online and found out how…”

Camila giggles. “That’s so sweet, but you could’ve just come over and asked me out.”

“I couldn’t, because you didn’t know me,” Lauren pointed out, “and that’s not _structured_ are there are too many variables. I had to do my plan.”

“Well… our date will be as structured as you’d like it to be,” Camila smiles. “Just let me know what time I need to pick you up, alright?”

“Okay.” Lauren nods, and plucks up the courage to ask something else. “Well- um, can I- can I have your phone number now?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Camila reels off her phone number for Lauren, who types it in the contacts page. Then, she texts Camila, so the other girl has her number too. “I really wish I’d given it to you when you asked the first time.”

“It- it’s okay,” Lauren stutters and stares down at Nala, who is sat in her lap. She plays with her stuffed animal’s ear and shrugs. “I- I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re the _sweetest_ ,” Camila says, “Your friends are lucky to have you.”

“I don’t… I don’t have any friends,” Lauren mumbles, “except Nala. And my family. And- and I kind of have Ally, she works at my favourite bakery and is always really nice to me when I go there and gives me an extra cupcake for free.”

Camila looks at her funnily, and Lauren frowns, because she doesn’t know what she’s said wrong. “Come and sit with me at lunch.”

Lauren nods. “Okay. I can’t go in the cafeteria because it’s too noisy and it’s hard to concentrate, so I like to sit outside. You can come to my favourite spot with me.”

“Alright,” Camila smiles, “I’m bringing some friends along too-”

“No!” Lauren exclaims, a little too loudly, and people close by them in the classroom start to stare. “No. I- I’m not good with big groups of people-”

“Just two friends,” Camila cuts in, “I’m only bringing two friends. Promise.”

“Um…” Lauren frowns, “okay. But- but they can’t be mean. If they’re mean then I don’t want them there and I- I don’t want you there either if you’re going to bring mean people.”

“Okay,” Camila smiles, “I promise they’re not mean. I wouldn’t bring mean people anyways.”

Lauren’s not sure if she believes her.

-

Lauren is sat on her favourite bench outside, reading her book. She’d texted Camila the exact location, and Camila had responded with _on my way_ and a bunch of smiley faces and hearts. Lauren doesn’t really care for emojis, and she didn’t bother replying.

Camila sits down next to her after a little while, with her friends Dinah and Normani in tow. “Hi, Lauren. Lauren, these are my best friends, Dinah Jane Hansen and Normani Kordei Hamilton. Guys, this is Lauren Jauregui, possibly the cutest person I’ve ever met.”

Dinah raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to say hi, person who’s apparently taken my title as the cutest girl Mila’s ever met?”

“Hello,” Lauren mumbles. She’s not talking much because Dinah and Normani intimidate her. “I- I don’t think that- that I’m very cute.”

Camila rolls her eyes. “Nope. You’re adorable and it’s not negotiable. Didn’t I tell you guys about how she made this little plan of how she was going to ask me out? It’s like, the sweetest thing ever.”

Normani smiles. “That’s cute. Can I see it?”

Lauren shakes her head. “It- it’s in my private journal and- and nobody is allowed to- to look in it but me.”

Camila speaks before Normani can. “Lauren? Can I hold your hand?”

“Um, okay,” Lauren mumbles in reply, tensing a little when Camila takes hold of her hand. “I- um, would like to- to sit in peace and read my- my book now.”

“Okay,” Camila smiles, “you read your book. We’ll just… hang out.”

Lauren pulls her hand from Camila’s grip and goes back to reading, hyperaware of the three people next to her. She tries to block out their conversation, but strings of words come trickling into her head and make it ten times harder to read her book.

So, she stands up and closes her book, carefully marking her page and putting it back into her backpack. She tugs her backpack onto her shoulders and is halfway across the grass, almost at the school building, when Camila catches up to her.

“Hey!” The younger girl takes her hand again. “Where are you going?”

“To read,” Lauren answers, rocking on her heels, “I- I couldn’t concentrate with everyone talking… so I left.”

“Do you not like my friends?” Camila asks, and Lauren isn’t sure how she came to that conclusion. Before she has time to ask, Camila’s speaking again. “Because I brought them to help make you more friends. You said you didn’t have any, and if we start dating, we’ll be _girlfriends_ , not friends, so… yeah.”

Lauren frowns. “You want me to be friends with them?”

“Yeah,” Camila smiles. “I want everyone to know how awesome you are. Starting with Dinah and Normani.”

“Oh,” Lauren hums, “that’s okay. I’m fine on my own.”

“I don’t like thinking of someone as sweet as you being by herself.” Camila points out. “Come and sit back down, Lauren. Please.”

“I- um, okay,” Lauren nods in reply and lets Camila lead her back over to the bench. She sits down and reopens her book, but looks up at Camila’s friends before reading. “Can you be quiet, please? I’d like to read my book and I can’t concentrate with people talking loudly.”

Normani sends her a warm smile. “No worries. But it’s hard to get Dinah to shut up, honestly.”

Dinah scowls. “Fuck you, Mani.”

“Yeah, you’d like to do that.” Normani smirks. “I know I’m hot as hell.”

As Normani and Dinah continue to bicker, Lauren looks over at Camila with a frown. “They’re still being loud.”

“You and I could go somewhere else?” Camila offers, and Lauren nods. She feels Camila take her hand again, and the younger girl leads her through the school building. “Let’s go to the music classroom. Nobody goes in there at lunch.”

“Okay,” Lauren agrees, following Camila into the empty classroom. “Do you- um, do you do music?”

“Yeah. I play guitar and sing. It’s kind of… what I want to do when I get older.” Camila says, “I know it’s really hard to get into and stuff, but… I want to try.”

“You will be extraordinary,” Lauren promises her, because she knows that Camila will go far. “I am going to be a famous artist when I get older.”

“That’s cool,” Camila says, “can I see some of your drawings?”

“Um…” Lauren digs through her backpack and gets out the notebook that she’d written her plan in. On the back of the page, there’s a small doodle of Camila, and she shows it to her. “You can’t- you can’t look in my sketchbook yet, since that’s like my soul, and I don’t know you very well. Only my mom can look in my sketchbook. But you can look at this.”

“That’s amazing,” Camila smiles at her, “you’re so talented. That’s way better than anything I could do.”

“Yes, it probably is,” Lauren agrees with her, and Camila lets out a warm laugh that makes Lauren’s stomach squirm. “You might be able to look in my sketchbook one day.”

Camila smiles and flips the page of Lauren’s notebook, and Lauren goes to snatch it out of her hands, because it’s her private journal and she doesn’t want Camila to look in it, but she realises that she’s just flicked back to the page with the plan.

“Hey, Lolo?”

Lauren’s stomach squirms again at the name. “My name is _Lauren_.”

“I know,” Camila laughs, “it’s a nickname. It’s cute like you.”

“I- I- it makes me nervous,” Lauren says, “when you- you call me cute. You make me nervous because I don’t- none of this is structured.”

“You want a structure?” Camila asks, and Lauren nods, staring at her feet. “Okay. Let’s do step ten. Right now.”

“But- but we haven’t done step nine yet,” Lauren stares at her. “We need to go on our date first.”

“Alright. Let’s pretend that step ten is actually step eight.” Camila says, moving towards her. “Can I kiss you, Lauren?”

“I- um, yes please,” Lauren squeaks out, fidgeting nervously. “Um- you mean now, right?”

“Yeah,” Camila laughs, resting her hands on Lauren’s shoulders. “I mean now.”

Before Lauren can say anything, soft lips are against hers and the butterflies in her stomach are twisting and turning. She’s not sure what to do with her hands, so she puts them on Camila’s waist like she sees people do in the movies, and Camila seems to move closer to her, kissing her more firmly.

After a few moments, Camila pulls away and sends her a smile. She grabs a pen from the teacher’s desk and checks off _step ten: kiss her._

“Well,” Camila grins, “your ten step guide to make me like you? Worked out pretty well, I think.”

“Yes,” Lauren murmurs, touching her fingers to her lips, still not believing that Camila’s had been there a second ago. “It did.”

**Author's Note:**

> A question - I'm considering a Camren HP AU, and multiple people have messaged me saying that they'd like it to be autistic!lauren. So please tell me yes or no because I'm still on the fence k bye


End file.
